Hollow
Same as the 55th floor, the fire escape at the entrance of Zone B.
"Pfft!"
As a bone-colored claw flashed, a large amount of red blood spurted from the neck.
A guard standing with his back to the door was stunned, touching his warm neck in disbelief.
Then everything went black, and he collapsed limply to the ground.
If you look at him from behind, you'll be surprised to find that his bulletproof vest looks like it's been cleanly cut off by some sharp weapon.
The break was exceptionally smooth.
But he was not an isolated case; four other enthusiastic companions accompanied him to see Jesus.
Just five minutes ago.
Kimiko, holding a specially printed miniature 3D blueprint, followed the markings and found a ventilation duct that allowed her to discreetly infiltrate the Vought Tower.
Moreover, this ventilation duct connects directly to the fire vent on the 55th floor, making it a perfect shortcut.
Kimiko then led the way, with Cate following behind, while Frenchie stayed behind to cover the rear.
The three climbed nearly fifty meters up the ceiling.
Kimiko moved at the front, quickly pinpointing the location of each guard through the gaps in the ventilation vents.
After the group successfully reached the corridor above the fire vent and in front of the monitoring room.
Kimiko first used her bone claws to cut open the welded-on ventilation opening, creating a large opening.
Then, crouching low, he used his immense wrist strength to grip the opening above, quickly flipped over, and landed lightly and silently on the ground.
Fortunately, this is a natural hiding place, with a large pile of clutter blocking the way in front.
So the group quickly came down from the pipe to the ground, and then, using the debris as cover, began to observe their surroundings.
The monitoring area wasn't exactly a secret zone, so Vought didn't have many guards there.
Before long, Kimiko figured out that there were four guards in total: two next to the water dispenser and two at the entrance of the monitoring room.
What follows is the scene you see.
Kimiko, alone with her bone claws, appeared like a ghost from the corner and then swiftly and decisively killed all four of them.
It's worth mentioning that the New Compound V not only gave her new abilities.
Her mobility, strength, and physical attributes have all been greatly enhanced.
Sign language: Okay
Kimiko flicked the blood off the bone claws and nodded to Cate at the end of the corridor.
Cate received the instruction and immediately walked out around the corner, with Frenchie following behind carrying a portable data terminal.
The three of them tiptoed along the fire escape and headed straight for the control room.
The door opens inwards.
As soon as Cate opened the door a crack, three pairs of eyes immediately swept over her.
"Intruder!"
The monitor in the middle was the first to notice something was wrong.
Because Vought has a clear rule that everyone must wear a uniform to work.
( The Seven must wear combat uniforms, except for supervisors and senior executives) in order to distinguish between employees and outsiders.
Judging from their attire, these people were clearly not insiders.
At this moment, the leftmost monitor's hand had already reached behind his waist, his index finger pushing off the safety, preparing to draw his gun.
The one on the far right also sensed something was wrong, activated the protective shield of the warning button, and prepared to strike with its palm.
Just as the monitor was about to touch the button, Cate took a step forward, her beautiful eyes turning bloodshot.
In a world beyond the observation of the macroscopic world, invisible tentacles rapidly emerged from Cate's body.
After pinpointing the direction of the three, the tentacles unusually bypassed the skulls, traveled down their necks, and finally bit down hard on their spinal nerves.
Then she suddenly unleashed an invisible aura, enveloping the three of them and instantly stunning them.
Under normal circumstances, Cate would have already used her tentacles to touch their brains and directly control their thoughts.
But not this time.
She remembered John's warning: Vought might send a Mesmer to oversee the 55th floor.
It's important to know that when Mesmer uses mind control, they leave traces of their manipulation.
Therefore, other Mesmer can also follow these traces to detect which of their kind left the mark.
Moreover, these people remembered seeing Cate and her party.
Even after their thinking is altered, this memory will still remain in their minds.
This can be observed by other Mesmer.
Therefore, just to be on the safe side, Cate decided to force them to lose their memories and enter a coma.
At the same time, they use tentacles to control their spines and forcibly control their nerve reflexes.
Biologically, the brain and spine are the two major nervous systems that control behavior; therefore, the spine can also control limb movement.
( Cate's awakened abilities, to be precise, are remotely controlled tentacles and wide-range mind reading.)
This tentacle is very powerful; it's equivalent to having a multi-functional telekinetic ability that simultaneously exists as a virtual and physical entity.
The moment the tentacles invaded, the three of them were frozen in place.
Their minds went blank before they could even process what was happening.
His body below the neck stiffened like a marionette, his hand that had been touching the gun slipped down, and his hand slowly retracted from the alarm button, stopping at his waist.
Seeing that the three people were completely under control, Frenchie darted to the front of the control panel and casually pushed aside the "zombie" blocking his way.
At that moment, a dozen or so screens on the control panel were flashing glaring red alerts.
Some of the footage has been reduced to static or black screen due to looting and vandalism by rioting prisoners.
Frenchie glanced at it, then quickly typed out several strings of code on the keyboard and touchpad, swiftly switching to the saved live feed and forcibly retrieving the background recording.
" Cate, put the first person's hand from the left on the keyboard."
Frenchie said as he typed code.
Cate's fingertips twitched slightly.
The monitor on the far left took a stiff step forward, raised his right hand, spread his fingers, and pressed them on the keyboard.
"Have him press Ctrl+F7, then open the video playback interface."
The monitor's fingers tapped the key combination.
The live feed on the main screen switches to a video playback interface, with the timeline displayed at the bottom of the screen.
In this way, all the surveillance footage from the past three days will be arranged in chronological order, creating a clear and easy-to-understand layout.
"Replace the freight elevator's surveillance footage with the recording from last Thursday, which is three hours long."
Frenchie pulled up the archive from last Thursday, and drew a space on the timeline with the mouse, marking it as the area to be covered.
"The freight elevator wasn't in use from 3 a. m. to 6 a. m. last Thursday, and the corridor was empty. This time period was just right to cover the windows where we were going in and out."
The controlled monitor inputs commands.
The program started running, and the progress bar slowly jumped from zero percent.
Next, Frenchie to the security patrol system backend and accessed the log database.
"Delete the patrol record I just marked from the log."
He swiped his finger across the screen, selecting a record between floors 54 and 55 with similar timestamps.
At this moment, fine beads of sweat had appeared on Cate's forehead.
Simultaneously controlling the motor nerves of three people, while ensuring that the precision of his fingertips is completely synchronized with Frenchie's commands.
This is far more taxing than simple brain hypnosis.
"Nailed it!"
Frenchie clapped his hands and stood up.
He was very confident in his skills.
From now on, unless someone comes upstairs in person, no one will be visible on the real-time surveillance cameras on this floor.
With that thought in mind, he turned off the lights in the monitoring room.
Cate quickly retracted her tentacles at that moment.
The three of them collapsed to the ground simultaneously, unconscious.
She leaned against the control panel for a few seconds, catching her breath. She wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand and nodded toward the corridor.
At that moment, Kimiko was leaning against the wall outside the control room door, waiting. When Cate gestured, she turned and rushed to the end of the corridor.
She already knew where Starlight was locked up.
Just as John handed the three-person distribution map to Maeve, Maeve immediately shared the cell locations with everyone.
Cate's appearance is too eye-catching, while Frenchie is just an ordinary person; neither of them is a good match.
Kimiko, being a self-healing Superman with a highly agile physique, naturally became the first choice to rescue Starlight.
At the end of the corridor, there was a bulletproof glass door that looked exactly like the other cells, but strangely...
There was no number on the door.
In fact, Starlight's name was not on any official prisoner list, so naturally he did not need a number or record.
Therefore, it cannot be found by outsiders.
This was one of Edgar's wicked schemes.
If Starlight's information is leaked, he will quickly identify the suspicious mole within the group and swiftly investigate and eliminate him.
But his plan may fall through.
Because this time... John never intended to hide it in the first place.
After reviewing the contents of the pre-battle meeting, Kimiko finally stopped in front of the door.
"Whoosh!"
The next second, sharp claws sprang from her fingertips.
She probed the gap between the glass door and the frame with the tip of her fingernail and found that it was just big enough to fit her fingernail.
Kimiko was overjoyed, and immediately pressed her wrist down forcefully.
"Snap!"
Kimiko cleanly severed the lock cylinder from the inside, sending metal fragments flying out of the cut and bouncing onto the ground.
The door slid open successfully.
Meanwhile, inside the room...
Starlight huddled in the corner, curled up into a small ball, her hands wrapped around her knees, her back pressed weakly against the cold steel wall.
Her chin was buried in her knees, and a dark bluish-purple tinge covered the area around her eyes.
Those were bruises left by ruptured capillaries due to long-term mental stress, deeper and more haggard than dark circles under the eyes.
There is no concept of time in the prison cell.
I just sat there in despair, with nothing to do but eat, drink, and relieve myself.
Over time, Starlight's mind began to rust, and he became unwilling to think about anything else.
Has the food arrived yet?
Hearing the door open, Starlight slowly raised her head, a faint hope in her eyes.
I hope I don't have mashed potatoes today...
Then she saw Kimiko's excited face.
At that moment, Kimiko was standing at the door, a bright smile on her face, her eyes curving into crescents.
She gestured rapidly in sign language; she had come to rescue her.
He made the gestures quickly and haphazardly, only realizing halfway through that he had misinterpreted the meaning, and then burst out laughing.
But there was no smile on Starlight's face.
His lips drooped down, and they trembled slightly.
Her gaze passed over Kimiko and looked toward the corridor outside the door, her tone lingering with an inexplicable intensity.
At this moment, Kimiko realized something was wrong and stopped making gestures.
Sign language: Why aren't you coming! Come with me!
Starlight opened her mouth, and a very faint sound escaped her throat.
"Go... go quickly..."
Kimiko was stunned.
Immediately afterwards, she heard footsteps behind her.
It was the sound of leather shoes rolling over a cement floor, neither fast nor slow.
Not long after, a bald man suddenly emerged from the shadows around the corner.
He was wearing a dark gray suit with the top two buttons undone at the collar.
His eyes were sunken, his cheekbones were high and prominent, and a wicked smile hung at the corner of his mouth.
I knew someone would come.
He walked and talked, the emergency lights shining down from above, casting two dark shadows below his cheekbones.
"Oh dear... It wasn't for nothing that I spent three days squatting on this floor, watching poor little Starlight huddled in the corner every day, hoping someone would come to rescue her."
"But unfortunately, I can't find anything interesting in this little Starlight..."
He stopped five steps away from Kimiko, took his hands out from behind his back, and interlaced his fingers in front of him.
"But you... I think, um... it's delicious."
Upon hearing the bald man's words, Kimiko's eyes darkened, and she whirled around, her sharp bone claws springing out once more.
Then she bent her knees slightly, lowered her center of gravity, and let out a low, Beast- like growl.
But the bald man just smiled and looked at her paws, clapping his hands and saying:
"Haha, what an interesting girl... But, the one who'll fight you isn't me~"
He tilted his head slightly, facing the corner of the corridor.
Then he bowed deeply in that direction, and gracefully raised his hand, making a "please" gesture.
"Look, it's him."
Another person emerged from the shadows.
Someone I know very well.
Kimiko froze in disbelief, her lips moving but unable to utter a word.
The man was barefoot, his cheeks sunken below his cheekbones, and his eyes were extremely empty and dull.
It's healthy...
Kimiko recognized her at first glance.
This was clearly her beloved younger brother, Kenji Miyashiro, whom she had been searching for in vain.
"Hehe... Let me give you a grand introduction to our Mesmer's latest weapon of mass destruction, Mr. Miyashiro."
The Mesmer, with his hands behind his back, chanted slowly.
"Come on, Mr. Miyashiro, see if this is your older brother~"
Upon hearing the bald man's words, a faint blue light shone in Kenji's eyes.
Then, he slowly raised his right hand, spread his five fingers, and aimed it at Kimiko.
Kimiko looked into those empty eyes, and at his raised hand; she recognized the gesture.
When we were kids at the matchmaking center, Kenji would always raise his hand like this whenever he wanted to perform a magic trick for her.
He would wave his finger in front of her eyes, then pull a piece of candy out from behind her ear.
The counselors at the counseling center back then were wicked and stingy; they would save up a single piece of candy for several days before they were willing to eat it.
But Kenji always manages to get his hands on it.
And now, he's using the exact same gesture on her.
There was nothing left in those cold eyes that she recognized.
"... I want you dead!"
This was the first time Kimiko, whose anger and repression had reached their peak, had spoken.